This is how to transfer from any registrar TO dreamhost.com, who I consider to be sane, competent and trustworthy. I’ve had an account with them since 2001. Here’s my Web Hosting essay for more background about them.

1. go to your current registrar and log in with your account credentials
2. look around for how to transfer the registration, and initiate it; you’ll get a “transfer authorization code”
3. go to https://signup.dreamhost.com/
4. click Register a Domain Only
5. fill in the stuff, and you’ll probably have to pay $9.95
6. click “I already own a domain” and enter the transfer authorization code

Ten bucks is nothing to go from insanity to sanity. GoDaddy, Spymac and several other registrars are just too much for me to look at. The simplest tasks are made impossible by horrid control panel design and rude upsell ads. I’ll take my registrations without the LSD, thanks.